


The Incredible Coincidence of One High School Reunion

by flyingnightwing



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Conflict, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fake Dating, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:02:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29301588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingnightwing/pseuds/flyingnightwing
Summary: 10 years after leaving high school, you are invited to a reunion with all your graduating class, none of these people which you actually missed. Notably, one certain nemesis of yours showed up, much to your surprise. But you could have never planned what series of bizarre events would take place, or even how the night would end up.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38





	The Incredible Coincidence of One High School Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> if your name is Monica I am truly sorry, please forgive me.

Out of everyone you thought would show up to the Gotham Academy 10 years alumni reunion, Dick Grayson was definitely not one of them. He was the golden boy, the Wayne kid that probably had a long list of better things to do than entertain than his old cohort of high school graduates. Alas, there he was in all of his glory, and it _pissed you off_. **  
**

You and Dick had, to say the least, a difficult relationship You had been friends, for a little while after he started at the academy. You had a lot of classes together and more often than not ended up working together. You helped him get acclimated to the new school and environment, introduced him to all your friends and invited him to your extracurricular activities. But then, ever so slowly, everything became a competition. Who got the best grades, who got involved in most committees, and even who the teachers liked most. Naturally, he bested you in everything and made a point to shove it back in your face. He became your nemesis, and this adversity dealt one hell of a blow to your social standing. People liked Dick better, of course they did, so they stopped hanging out with you.

Good riddance, you told yourself. They outed themselves as fake friends anyway, so the loss hadn’t been catastrophic. Still, for a teenage girl, it had hurt. You had been doomed as the loner, all because you had befriended the wrong person in the first place. The saddest part was that you genuinely missed your friendship with Dick, but you just couldn’t go back to him. It would have made you look pathetic and desperate, and you were not about to stoop so low. Sure you had a few other acquaintances you ate lunch with and did teamwork, but it wasn’t the same.

He was mingling with the people, talking and laughing in his probably expensive suit. You rolled your eyes at the sight and downed your glass of champagne, then made your way back to the refreshment table. On the way you bumped into an old colleague from the recycling committee and entertained small talk, then you made it there without another obstacle. You stopped in front of the already filled glasses of wine and hesitated. The red wine smelled horrible, the white seemed watered down, but the rosé looked like a good choice. You reached for the last glass when your hand collided with another. you looked up to apologize, but as you caught a glimpse of the other person, your eyebrows furrowed in annoyance and retracted your hand like it touched fire. 

“Grayson” You said through clipped lips.

“(Y/L/N)”

“Still trying to steal my only joy left, I see” You scoffed, nodding at the still unclaimed rosé glass.

“And you’re still baselessly accusing everyone but yourself for undermining you” He rolled his eyes. “Nothing has changed”

“What do you want?” You sighed, crossing your arms against your chest and glaring up at him. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

“Well, I was just trying to get a drink” He lifted his hands up in surrender, but in a sarcastic way that just irritated you, and he knew it all to well. “You were the one who got all pissy about it”

“Yeah whatever, I guess I should have bowed and offered you the glass on a silver platter” You huffed. “So his Highness wouldn’t have been inconvenienced”

“Are you kidding me?” His eyebrows raised. “Why are you like this? I’ve never–”

He stopped talking, his eyes fixated on something behind you for a second. Then, he made himself surprisingly small and glanced away. You frowned in confusion for a second, before you looked over your shoulder and blanched, understanding the reaction all too well. You shared a look of panic, simultaneously putting away the animosity between each other to brace yourself for the horror that was to come.

And that horror was named Monica.

She confidently walked toward you, graceful in her high heels and frustratingly stunning in her knee length dark blue dress. She was your ex supposed best friend, and the first one to ditch you for Dick when the rivalry began. She then proceeded to make a point of showing off her pinning for him, trying desperately to make her and him a “thing”. It never worked, but she kept going, so much it became borderline stalking. The whole school knew, it fueled everyone’s gossip.

Without missing a beat, she extended in arm in between you and Dick to grab the last glass of rosé, leaning not so subtly more in his space than she needed to. She sipped the alcohol almost seductively, gazing at Dick with practiced innocence. It was becoming uncomfortable real quick.

“Hi Richard” She gave him her best smile, then shot you a smug glance as if saying _watch this_. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been good” He replied without much interest, refusing to meet her eyes. “How about you?”

“Amazing! I’ve been working on totally rebranding my father’s hotel company” She chatted excitedly. You sighed inwardly and grabbed a glass of white wine, taking a long sip. “If you want to, I can show you the new rooms design. We could test the mattresses…”

You choked on your wine while Dick’s eyes considerably widened. Monica was waiting for an answer.

“I uh– Actually I can’t…” He sputtered, trying to come up with an excuse to reject her. _Oh, that would be interesting alright_. He knew how persuasive she could be, so he had to find something solid. He looked around in a panic, then his eyes settled on you. “… Because (Y/N) and I are together”

His words didn’t quite register in your head as he threw an arm around your waist, pulling you closer to his side with a wide forced smile. His fingers giving a small pleading tug to your dress snapped you out of your stupor, and you plastered a matching grin on your lips. You hated the idea of bailing Dick out of an embarrassing situation, but the opportunity of taunting Monica was just too good to pass, so you decided to play along.

“What?” Monica blinked in confusion, then frowned. “I didn’t know that”

“That’s because we’ve been keeping it very private” He replied smoothly. “I wanted to keep her away from the paps, they’re such vultures sometimes”

“Oh” She simply said, before smiling sweetly. It was _too_ sweet. You didn’t like it one bit. “So how did it happen?”

“Well, we bumped into each other again last year, totally by accident” You took over Dick’s hesitation. “And uh, we cleared things up and it kinda just… Happened”

You made a point of giving him heart eyes as you finally returned his awkward embrace. His muscles untensed a bit when he saw you wouldn’t sabotage him. Something shifted in Monica’s eyes, they became just a bit more somber without her losing the smile. It made her look just a bit insane.

“I see” Her tone turned hostile. “I guess you won’t mind if I share the good news, won’t you?” 

“… Yeah, we don’t mind” He scratched the back of his neck while your stomach dropped. You hadn’t thought about this. The smugness returned as she turned around, flipping her hair in the process. You watched her walk away before sending a thundering glare at Dick, who had his lips pressed in a thin line.

“Really?” 

“What was I supposed to do?” He quietly bit back.

“You owe me a solid one for this” You said through your teeth. “You better start thinking of something good, golden boy”

“As far as I’m concerned, you have as much interest as me to keep this charade up” He scoffed, grabbing a glass of red wine. “So don’t act like you’re doing this out of selflessness”

“Yeah whatever” 

“Ooooohhhh mi gosh guuuuys”

You both flinched at the very high pitched voice coming to your right. You saw a girl in a violet dress almost running toward you with a wide grin on her face. You didn’t remember her name, but you knew she was a nice girl despite her tendency to get in everyone’s business. 

“Why didn’t you say you were together?” She squealed as her boyfriend trailed along, an apologetic expression on his face. “This is so amaaaazing!”

“Ah, yes” You replied awkwardly. “We just wanted to keep it private, you know?”

“Yeah I understand totally” She nodded quickly, the point of your words soaring right over her head. “I’ve always known you guys were going to end up together. You’re so meant for each other”

You wanted to cringe. That surely wasn’t the discourse anyone was holding while you were still in high school, and she surely only said that because she thought you were actually together. What do they know, anyway. 

“Uh, thanks” Dick smiled politely to hide his discomfort. “I guess it took some time, but we finally figured it out, haha”

“Oh, I forgot” She gasped, turning to her boyfriend. “Mike, this is Dick and (Y/N). They were like, THE rivals back in the days. We basically only talked about them for like, an entire school year. It’s so sad (Y/N) pushed everyone away though”

You looked away as she kept babbling to her boyfriend. You knew she didn’t mean it in a harsh or mocking way, but it still stung. You wanted to tell her it hadn’t been by choice, that people deserted you and forced you into a corner, but you found yourself unable to do so. Beside, you couldn’t just let them know how much it affected you or they would prey on it all the same than in actual high school. You were so busy tuning her out that you missed the concerned glance sent in your direction. 

“Hey, it was nice to see you again” Dick shook hands with the couple, snapping you out of your head. You forced a smile and did the same. “I think we’ll go around a bit, but uh, see ya?”

“S-sure”

You gladly took this exit and walked away from the refreshment table with Dick. You could feel his questioning stare shifting on you every few seconds, but you refused to look in his direction. He didn’t have the right to be concerned, and you didn’t owe him any explanations. You lifted your head upright and followed him over to the next group of person. Naturally, by this point, everyone had gotten the word from Monica. People were either friendlier than ever with you, or gave you attitude about it, none of which you enjoyed. You mostly nodded and smiled, barely paying attention to the words that were being exchanged. It was more often than not anecdotes that concerned Dick, or happened after you broke things off with most of your friends.

“It so strange to see you together” Some guy you didn’t quite remember began with a cruel smirk. “I didn’t see you as the type to hang out with losers”

You bit your cheek so hard it almost bled. You were certain that this would be the last nail to your coffin, that you’d receive the humiliation of your life. However, your fake boyfriend had another idea. 

“Still I hung out with you” The comeback came so fast it almost gave you a whiplash. Silence settled over the group, their baffled stares directed to a very self satisfied Dick Grayson. “Hey, remember when you hung upside down from the climbing ropes in gym class and threw up all over yourself from up there?”

Your hand involuntarily flew to your mouth to hide the drop of your jaw. 

A wave of uncomfortable laughs made its way around the circle, as nobody had enough guts to confront Dick about it. And you had a feeling he knew that; he knew they would still try to suck up to him even ten years later and fully abused this privilege.

For you.

Without waiting any longer, you were gently dragged away from the group. You were still processing what had just happened and didn’t realize you were talked to. You shook your head slightly to get out of your daze and frowned.

“Uh?”

“I asked you if you were okay” He repeated softly.

“Y-yeah” You stuttered. “I guess I’m the one who owe you one now”

“Don’t mention it” He tried a small smile. “Those people need some reality checks sometimes”

“I don’t know why I even came to this stupid reunion” You mumbled, glancing back at where the group had stood earlier. Most of the people had gone away by now, only remaining the guy Dick had all but obliterated and some girl seemingly comforting him. “It was a bad idea”

He didn’t speak right away, he instead did a visual sweep of the room, then at the back door of the gymnasium and at the crown again. “Hey, have you ever gotten on the roof of the academy?”

“… No” Your eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“Come on” He hooked his arm through yours and pulled you with him to the back door. You ended up in a staircase you didn’t know existed and began climbing up. You didn’t know how, but Dick easily bypassed the lock without the key, opening the door to the roof. You stepped out a took a deep breath, glad you could escape the crowd of people you didn’t like downstairs. The sky was clouded and it smelled like rain was coming.

“So” You began as you turned to face him. “How did you out of all people found out about this secret passage? This isn’t very much golden-y of you”

“Oh, if only you knew” He chuckled, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I found the staircase by accident in senior year one time I was trying to hide away from Monica and her gang of demons”

You snorted.

“I don’t know how you did it” He hummed, looking up at the sky.

“Did what?”

“Kept yourself together while I was being, well, a total dick” He precised.

“Ah” You gave him a sad smile. “The first social rule you learn when you’re born rich, is that you rarely ever make real friends. You mostly only keep people around temporarily for your own gain, then they’re gone. It was hard, but I had expected it”

“Still, you handled it way better than I did” His eyes trailed down the roof and stopped on you. “I wasn’t prepared for everything that came with hanging with rich kids”

“It’s an art, isn’t it?” You teased. “Fake friends are hard to manage, especially the kind that comes here. If you’re not careful they’ll eat you alive”

“Yeah, I understood that pretty quickly” He sighed. You nodded slowly, warming up your arms with your hand. The night air was cold, and the wind didn’t make it better. 

“If it could make you feel better” You paused, regretting your words as soon as they came but unable to stop them. “I think you’ve been my only true friend in high school, for the time it lasted”

You weren’t looking to astound him, but you surely did. His whole posture changed, and his expression shifted into something you couldn’t put your finger on. You had the time to reconsider your words and ask yourself if you should leave before he gave you any reaction.

“Sorry” You mumbled. “I shouldn’t have said that”

“N-no, wait” He scurried his thoughts. “You really meant that?”

You nodded.

“I truly screwed up didn’t I?” He muttered, flinching. 

“No, I did” You sighed. “I should have just swallowed my pride and stopped caring so much about trying to be better than you” 

“But I kept pushing you” His head hung low. “I was trying so hard to get attention and validation that lost the one person that might have made high school not so terrible”

“Didn’t you get enough validation from Monica?” You raised an eyebrow playfully. “She seemed so keen on praising your every move”

“Ha” He shook his head, a small smile dancing on the corner of his lips. “I think she was praising the name Wayne more than anything”

“High school was terrible” You said as you glanced up at a bird flying higher over your head. When you looked back down, Dick had his arm outstretched and was handing you his suit jacket. You mumbled a thanks and put it on, welcoming its warmth.

“Cheers to that” 

“Oh yeah” You chuckled. “Cheers to people screwing up good things and explaining a decade later”

“(Y/N), I officially apologize for being an asshole” He declared, and you held back a grin. “Will you forgive me?”

“I officially forgive you, Dick Grayson” You replied. “Will you forgive me for being a stuck up bitch?”

“I officially forgive you, (Y/N)” He repeated with a mock solemn expression.

You held eye contact for a second before you burst with laughter. All of this anger and resentment you had carried for years was suddenly just gone. You had no idea it would be that easy to put it all behind you and find back your friend you had missed so much. You had forgotten how easy it was to laugh and kid around with him. 

“Come here” He opened his arms for a hug. As you were about to walk into his embrace, raindrops began falling. You paused for a second, just enough for the sky to open up and pour water over you.

You yelped and ran for cover back inside. Dick slammed the door behind you and put back the lock on again, then with a mischievous glint in his eyes, grabbed your wrist and pulled you with him down the stairs.

“Slow down!” You squealed, trying not to fall over in your heals. “Where are we going?”

“Take a wild guess”

He pushed open the door of the first floor, giving out on the hallways you knew too well. Most senior classrooms were around here, and on the walls, the graduating classes hung in big, golden frames. 

“The senior hall? Really?” You raised an eyebrow, but he wasn’t fazed. 

“Come on, let’s find our year” He ignored your comment as he walked further down the corridor, checking the dates on every frame. You followed him until he finally stopped on the right one. “Aw, look at our baby faces!”

You squinted your eyes at the pictures to find him. “I’m sorry to tell you, you practically look the same” 

He gasped in offense. “I believe I lost my baby cheeks since. I mean, look at my jaw”

You looked in between the picture and him a couple of times, pretending not to see it. Obviously, his face had gotten insanely handsome since you had last seen him, and that was just his face. You didn’t broach the topic of the broad shoulders and seemingly toned body. The rain had gotten through his white shirt a bit, and you prefered not to let your gaze linger there for too long,

“Mhhh” You shrugged teasingly. “I guess your hair has improved a bit”

“This is what you latched on? My hair?” He scoffed playfully before he snapped his head in your direction. “Wait, a bit?”

You laughed. “Alright alright, Grayson. I might be a bitch but I’m not a liar, you do score considerably higher overall on the looks now”

“Thank you” He smiled proudly. “You’re not too bad yourself” 

“Oh, you don’t need to flatter me” You smirked as you stepped around him to go further down the hallway. “I’m fully secure in my glow up from then to now”

“Alright, no need to get cocky” He snorted, but it wasn’t mean like it used to be. It felt like the friendship you were meant to have. 

You stopped in front of the glass case displaying various achievement by seniors, the valedictorians of each years and the famous golden book, which contained the signature of every graduate of Gotham Academy since 1957. It laid open, showing the pages of the last class to leave. You felt nostalgic as you read the comments and signatures, suddenly wishing you were one of the kids who got to give and receive nice comments and share inside jokes only a select group of people would understand. Instead, you knew your name was forever scribbled in a corner ten pages back, perhaps overlapped by some bigger, flashier signature from the more popular crowd. 

“Forever the… Salt water chugging gang?” Dick read from an entry, furrowing his brows together. “I wonder what events lead to that name”

“Yikes” You grimaced. “Were we that stupid?”

“More, I think” He grinned. “Let’s find out”

Before you could ask what he meant, he got to work to disable the student proof lock and opened the glass. He did it so easily, so flawlessly, you had trouble thinking of how he learned to do all that.

“How do you know so much about picking locks?” You asked as he carefully flipped back the pages to your year. First the door to the roof, now that?

“Stick around and maybe I’ll tell you” He winked, then returned his eyes on the book. They widened. “Oh what the hell”

“What?” You peeked from around him.

“Monica really… Really left me her-her” He choked with laughter, tears brimming his eyes. “Her my–myspace handle-”

You joined him in a quiet laughter, then it grew louder as his became hysteric. He barely finished his sentence, he couldn’t even say it, and you understood why. It was positively hilarious. She really did leave her myspace handle for Dick, under his name with a little heart and her signature.

Dick sighed, his hand on his chest as he tried to catch his breath back. He then wiped his tears and shook his head. “That was good”

“One for the books, for sure” You agreed. “If she could see that, the embarrassment” 

“Come on, let’s add something for old time’s sake” He said as he pulled out a pen from his pockets. Before you could stop him, he leaned forward and began writing in a tiny free space. He then backed up, letting you read his little addition.

_‘Let’s pretend I wrote that when we were seniors. To our lost and found friendship, sincerely, your favourite asshole’_

Your smile widened at the message, a warm feeling sneaking up in your chest. You snatched the pen from his hand and scribbled another message in another blank space, the blue ink contrasting with the black of the markers on the page. 

_‘Because it took us a decade to find out we have more in common than different after all. To you with love, your stuck up bitch’_

It was your turn to step back, satisfied, and let him read your message. He chuckled as you handed him back the pen, and quietly flipped back the pages to the last class.

“Thanks” You spoke up.

“For what?”

“For giving me the chance to write something nice that I meant in there” You explained, pushing back a loose strand of hair behind your ear. “Despite what I might say, it’s nice to leave a mark somewhere”

“In that case, you’re very welcome” He smiled warmly. You felt your heart skip a beat when you noticed how close from you he had gotten. From close on, you could see the different pigments in the blue of his eyes, or just how sharp his facial features actually were. It was definitive, Dick Grayson was a really handsome man.

You kind of understood now why Monica was so obsessed with him.

Suddenly, Dick perked up, his eyes set on the corner of the corridor. Quicker than you could register, he shut the glass display close and spun you against him, backing himself up into the wall. You were confused and flustered with your hands flat on his chest, but you realized soon enough the purpose of his actions. Seconds after, your old math teacher rounded up the corner. She paused at the sight of you, a frown on her face, until she recognized Dick. Her whole expression then changed.

“Mr. Grayson” She smiled politely, ignoring the position you were in. So, he had staged it up to seem like you were doing _something else_ than vandalizing the golden book. “I believe the party is in the gymnasium”

“Sorry Ms Hess” He apologized sheepishly. “We wanted to take a little trip down memory lane”

She gave you a knowing look, but didn’t argue much. She only kept going her way like she didn’t even see you. You were baffled for a second at exactly what extent people went to suck up to the Wayne name, then you remembered the position you were in. The heat crept back up in your neck, and it only became worse when Dick seemed to have no intention to move. You were too aware of his arms circling your waist and his casual leaning on the wall.

“Nice save” You breathed, your eyes going back to his. _Bad idea._ He had this innocent look that actually was anything but, and it made you nervous. He was the one against the wall, but it still felt like you were the one trapped. “I still have no idea how you managed that too”

“Let’s add it to the list of mysteries, shall we?”

You could have sworn his voice got deeper there. He slowly tilted his head to the side, his gaze flickering under hooded eyelids in between your eyes and your lips. He was nearly irresistible like that, practically inviting you to steal a taste, so you decided just not to resist. Tentatively, you leaned closer and slowly pressed your lips to his. They were soft and warm as they began gently moving against yours, making you feel all weird inside. On one hand, this was the man you disliked with worked passion no earlier than two hours before. But on the other hand, _it felt so right_.

You felt like a teenager all over again, but living the right experiences this time around. 

He pulled away, ending the kiss but still staying close. You blinked hazily, trying to chase the daze away. You could feel his hot breath on your lips, and while you were sure your thoughts should be spinning a hundred miles per hour, your head was surprisingly clear and calm. All nervousness was gone and dissipated in thin air. 

“I…” You trailed off, trying to find your tongue. “I don’t know what to say”

“Hmmm, how about…” He hummed as if he was thinking it through. _“Wow Grayson, you’re so amazing and I can’t believe we did not make out sooner”_

You rolled your eyes at the high pitched voice he used, then lightly slapped him on the chest. “Way to ruin the moment”

“That’s the good thing about moments though” He said, sliding a hand up your back and on your neck. “We can make more of ‘em”

He pulled you in for another kiss, which did not last as long, but definitely felt as good as the first. Perhaps that girl in the violet dress was onto something after all. 

“Smooth, Grayson” A small smile stretched on your lips when you separated. “Very smooth”

“Smooth’s my middle name”

“Uh huh” You chuckled, your eyebrows raised. “Sure”

He shook his head, a playful grin on his lips. His hand trailed from your neck down your arm and his fingers laced with yours. You glanced down at your joint hands, then up to his face. His smile was still there, but it was somewhat more toned down, more fond than its previous playful.

“Are we doing this?” He asked in a whisper. “Or should we stop before I start thinking about it too much?”

You took a deep breath at his question, not expecting it just yet. Dick was someone passionate and emotional, so it shouldn’t surprise you he was already thinking of a potential romantic relation. Everything was moving so fast, but you didn’t want to lie to yourself and say you didn’t feel anything there. Something definitely happened in between the moment he awkwardly threw his arm around you to dodge Monica and the moment he spun you against his chest. And well, one thing you clearly learned tonight was that spontaneous and not thought through decisions could pay off in a way you couldn’t even imagine. 

“I’m willing to try if you are” You finally spoke up. “I guess we’ve got nothing to lose in giving this a shot”

Relief swept across his eyes and his famous million dollars smile returned. He gave your fingers a little squeeze, seeming as happy as a child on christmas morning. 

“This is gonna be great” He muttered excitedly. “I won’t let you down again, I swear”

“You better not” You teased.

“Ohhhhhh mi goooosh!”

Both of your attention snapped at the shrilling voice interrupting you. There was the same girl from earlier, with a crowd around her that obviously contained a very pissed off Monica. You and Dick shared yet another look of incomprehension and slight panic at what she would say this time. And well, it was well justified because nothing could prepare you for her next words. 

“They’re getting engaaaaaaaaged!”

_Ah hell, what did you both get into?_


End file.
